This invention relates to a connector configured to be fixed to an object such as a printed circuit board, a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) or a Flexible Flat Cable (FFC).
For example, a connector configured to be fixed to a circuit board is disclosed in JP-A 2000-357550 (Patent Document 1) and JP-A 2004-14350 (Patent Document 2), contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The connector of Patent Document 1 has a shell which is formed by bending a metal plate. The shell has a bottom portion, a fold-back portion and a shell terminal. The fold-back portion is formed by folding back the metal plate at a front end of the bottom portion so that the fold-back portion extends in a plane in parallel to the circuit board. The shell terminal is configured to be inserted in and fixed to a hole of the circuit board. More specifically, the shell terminal is formed at an end of the fold-back portion so as to extend in a plane perpendicular to the circuit board.
The connector of Patent Document 2 has a shell which is formed by bending a metal plate similar to the connector of Patent Document 1. The shell has a mating portion configured to be mated with a mating connector, and a shell terminal. The shell terminal is formed by folding back the metal plate at a front end of the mating portion so that the shell terminal extends in a plane perpendicular to the circuit board.
The fold-back portion of the connector of Patent Document 1 extends in the plane in parallel to the circuit board. Accordingly, when such a force that detaches the connector from the circuit board is applied to the connector, the shell might be easily deformed and damaged.
The mating portion and the shell terminal of the connector of Patent Document 2 are coupled with each other at a boundary portion which extends in a direction perpendicular to the circuit board. As the connector has lower profile, a size of the boundary portion in the direction perpendicular to the circuit board becomes smaller. Accordingly, when a size of the connector is small, strength of the boundary portion might be insufficient.